In recent years, in accordance with development of high resolution image forming and expansion of application for industrial use of inkjet printers, demands for forming a high solution patter and ejecting of high viscosity ink have been increasing. To cope with these issues with conventional inkjet recording method, nozzles have to be miniaturized and an ejecting force has to be increased so as to eject the high viscosity ink. Thus a drive voltage has to be increased which increases a cost of the head and the apparatus. Therefore the apparatus capable of practical used has not been realized.
Thus, to meet with the demands, so-called a statistic electric attraction method liquid ejecting technology, wherein liquid in the nozzle is charged and the liquid droplet is ejected by an electrostatic attraction force created by an electric field formed between various substrates configuring an object to receive the droplet and the nozzle, is known as a technology to eject high viscosity liquid as well as low viscosity liquid from miniaturized nozzle (Patent document 1).
Also, a liquid ejecting apparatus utilizing so-called electric field assist method where the above liquid ejecting technology and a technology using a pressure by distortion of a piezoelectric element or by creation of air bubbles in the liquid are combined has been developed (for example refer to Patent documents 2 to 5). In this method, a meniscus of liquid is protrudeed at an ejecting port of the nozzle using a meniscus forming device and the electrostatic attraction force so as to increase the electrostatic attraction force for the meniscus and eject the meniscus as a liquid droplet beyond a liquid surface tension.
Patent Document: International Publication 03/070381 Pamphlet
Patent document: JP Tokkaihei 5-104725A
Patent Document: JP Tokkaihei 5-278212A
Patent Document: JP Tokkaihei 6-134992A
Patent Document: JP Tokkai 2003-53977A